Hey fellow demon fighters!  I am new to this site but not new to CH.  I've been suffering from CH for about 10 years now and have pretty much been just dealin with it till now.  In 2001,  I suffered major closed head trauma after falling out of the bed of a moving pickup truck.  About 1-2 years later, is when the first CH hit me.  I don't know for sure if the trauma is to blame, but I've read studies that say that a significant % of CH sufferers have suffered some sort of head trauma.  My first cycle was very traumatic. It was surreal.  They would wake me in the night and it seemed like I was never truly awake and it was all a dream.  Then, I would wake up in my living room or on my back porch where I crashed when it was over.  After they stopped, I was relieved.  Then, they came back 6 months later.  I started to do research and diagnosed myself.  I've been uninsured up until recently, but have been to 2 general physicians in the past who gave me some anticonvulsant that I can't remember, midrin (migraines), and imitrex nasal spray.  Nothing worked and the post nasal drip from the imitrex made me vomit on top of dealing with the demon.  My cycles typically happen in early fall and spring.  My headaches are in my left temple and behind my left eye.  They typically last from 45 to 90 minutes.  Cycles typically last 6-8 weeks. I'm 29 years old and have been in remission for about 3 years until about 2 weeks ago.  I've had some shadows in the past couple if years but never any full blown cycles.
  I am so grateful I found this site.  The doctors I saw would not prescribe me O2 and that's the only treatment I knew of. I thought I was on my own with this for the rest of my life.  My coping with the demon involves sitting in the shower with the water spraying on my left temple and the back of my neck.  I rock like a mental patient,  cuss, scream, and beat my head with my fists and the side of the tub.  I usually get very depressed about halfway through a cycle as it starts to wear on me.  The only empowerment I've felt with CH happened the other night when I learned about red bull from this site.  The past 2 nights the demon has nudged me awake about 2am and I have pounded a red bull and found my trusty old bathtub.  To my amazement the headaches have stopped both times after about 10-15 minutes after drinking the red bull.  The feeling of having a weapon against this is absolutely amazing!  The information you guys have put together here deserves so much recognition!  I plan on working on getting O2 now that I have graduated college and am now an RN with pretty good health coverage.  I am to be married June 1st to a wonderful woman that I have been with for the past 2.5 years.  I told her about the headaches before but this is the first time she has experienced this with me.  I woke her up after my second kip 8-9 was over the other night.  I was in tears and I told her that there was nothing that she could do but I just needed her to be awake and lay with me.  She had no idea how bad these things were until now.  She says she feels helpless and I told her that I feel helpless too.  That is until I found you guys.  I've never even spoken with any of you guys but I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for the help you have already provided to me and my family.  Sorry this post was so long but I am just excited that I have people to talk with that understand.  Most people don't even know what CHs are let along grasp the extent of the pain and how it effects our lives.  Employers act like your a lying lazy sack when you call in bc you've been up half the night with a "headache."  Doctors in this area don't take it seriously and just want you out if their office with an Rx for something u r telling them isn't gonna work.  Anyways,  thanks for everything guys and I'm glad to be here.

Welcome to the board! Just got back from a 2 week bicycle ride alomng the Mississippi that included Louisianna. The people down south were wonderful, your weather, not quite so hospitable!

These are docs in Louisianna that ohter sufferers have recommended, any close enough you can get a referral to?

Baton Rouge:
Dr. Steven Zuckerman
Covington:
Dr. Srinivas Ganji
Lafayette:
Dr.Steven J. Snatic
Metairie:
Dr. Daniel J. Trahant
New Iberia:
Dr. Timothy F. Himel

Follow this link to the medications section of this board and read the post 

Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or

It’s a vitamin/mineral/fish oil supplement, all over the counter stuff. It’s up to an 81% success rate of those who try it and respond to the survey so you’re just shooting yourself in the foot if you don’t give it a shot. I’m 3 years pain free on it after a 35 plus year track record with episodic CH. Best of all, it’s healthy for you even without CH!

Glad you found us.

Joe

Simply not wise to diagnose yourself, especially when there are confounding factors involved--the traumas. There are a surprising # of Cluster-mimics, disorders which appear to be Cluster but which are not primary headache disorders.

See:
Link to: cluster-LIKE headache.
Section, "Medications, Treatments, Therapies --> "Important Topics" --> "Cluster-LIKE headache"
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The limitation of many docs re. headache Dx and treatment  is well known here. If at all possible, find a specialist.
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LOCATING HEADACHE SPECIALIST

1. Yellow Pages phone book: look for "Headache Clinics" in the M.D. section and look under "neurologist" where some docs will list speciality areas of practice.

2.  Call your hospital/medical center. They often have an office to assist in finding a physician. You may have to ask for the social worker/patient advocate.

3. Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or ; On-line screen to find a physician.

4. Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or Look for "Physician Finder" search box. They will send a list of M.D.s for your state.I suggest using this source for several reasons: first, we have read several messages from people who, even seeing neurologists, are unhappy with the quality of care and ATTITUDES they have encountered; second, the clinical director of the Jefferson (Philadelphia) Headache Clinic said, in late 1999, that upwards of 40%+ of U.S. doctors have poor training in treating headache and/or hold attitudes about headache ("hysterical female disorder") which block them from sympathetic and effective work with the patient; third, it's necessary to find a doctor who has experience, skill, and a set of attitudes which give hope of success. This is the best method I know of to find such a physician.

5. Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or NEW certification program for "Headache Medicine" by the United Council for Neurologic Subspecialties, an independent, non-profit, professional medical organization.
        Since this is a new program, the initial listing is limited and so it should be checked each time you have an interest in locating a headache doctor.